Biography
Andrew received a BSc. in Biology & Anthropology at the University of Victoria (Victoria, Canada, 2012). He earned his Ph.D. in Neurosciences (2017) working in the lab of Dr. Leigh Anne Swayne from the University of Victoria, where he studied protein trafficking of the ion-and-metabolite channel pannexin-1 in neural cells. Following his Ph.D. degree, he underwent postdoctoral training at the University of Calgary (Calgary, Canada, 2017-2024) under the supervision of Dr. Roger Thompson, where he developed an awake and freely behaving murine ischemic stroke model. In 2022, Andrew was a visiting research scholar in the lab of Dr. Valentin Nägerl (Université de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France), where he contributed to the development of novel microscopy techniques. Andrew joined the Department of Neurosciences at UNM in 2025.
Personal Statement
Each year, over 795,000 Americans have a new or recurrent stroke. Stroke incidence is rising in reproductive aged people, reflecting a number of worsening lifestyle factors. Younger stroke survivors live longer with deficits, have increased risk of recurrence, and create novel challenges to both stroke survivors and their caregivers.
During most ischemic strokes, a focal region of brain is acutely deprived of necessary nutrients for survival. While this area often succumbs, the rest of the brain remains well-supplied and can be differentially impacted. Our lab is currently interested in how unique tissue contexts respond to a focal stroke using mouse models.
We focus on spreading depolarizations (SD), massive slowly propagating waves of depolarization, triggered in the acute stroke brain. It is well understood that deleterious SDs are induced by a oxygen and nutrient supply-demand mismatch in the region surrounding an emerging stroke. In peri-infarct tissue, they provide an incredible metabolic challenge to already compromised tissue and thus are typically deleterious. We have also recently observed SDs forming concurrently in well-perfused tissue remote from the stroke core. These remote SDs occur more frequently in female mice and are associated with positive stroke outcomes. We have become fascinated with how these distinct SDs co-occur and how they impact brain function both during acute stroke and in the short and long term of stroke recovery.
Our multimodal in vivo approach allows simultaneous fluorescence-based and electrophysiological recordings in behaving mice to reveal how stroke and SD impact symptomology in real time. We also model stroke in brain slices and use cutting-edge microscopy techniques to understand how tissue context at microscale impacts the propagation and impact of SD.
Areas of Specialty
Stroke
Seizure
Sex as a biological variable
Microscopy in living brain tissue
Achievements & Awards
Alberta Innovates Postdoctoral Fellowship (2+1; 2021-2024)
EuroBioImaging User Access Fund (Pilot Project Operating Grant, 2022)
Donald Burns & Louise Berlin Postdoctoral Fellowship in Dementia Research (2017-2019)
Natural Sciences & Engineering Research Council – Postgraduate scholarship - doctorate (2014-2017)
Howard E. Petch Scholarship (University of Victoria, 2016)
President’s Research Scholarship (University of Victoria, 2015, 2016)
Natural Sciences & Engineering Research Council (Alexander Graham Bell Canadian Graduate Scholarship – Masters, 2013-2014)
Dr. Julius F. Schleicher Memorial Scholarship (University of Victoria, 2013)
Key Publications
Journal Article
Boyce, Andrew, KJ Fouad, Yannick, Gom, Renaud, C Ashby, Donovan, Martins-Silva, Cristina, Molina, Leonardo, Fuzesi, Tamas, Ens, Carina, Nicola, Wilten, McGirr, Alexander, Teskey, G, Campbell Thompson, Roger, J Accepted Contralesional hippocampal spreading depolarization promotes functional recovery after stroke
Journal Article
Dembitskaya, Y, Boyce AKJ, , Idziak, A, Pourkhalili Langeroudi, A, Arizono, M, Girard, J, Le Bourdellès, G, Ducros, M, Sato-Fitoussi, M, de Ochoa Amezaga, A, Oizel, K, Bancelin, S, Mercier, L, Pfeiffer, T, Thompson, R, J 2023 Shadow imaging for panoptical visualization of brain tissue in vivo. Nature communications, vol. 14, Issue 1, 6411
Journal Article
Boyce AKJ, , Swayne, L, A 2017 P2X7 receptor cross-talk regulates ATP-induced pannexin 1 internalization. The Biochemical journal, vol. 474, Issue 13, 2133-2144
Journal Article
Boyce, Andrew, Kim, M, S Wicki-Stordeur, L, E Swayne, L, A 2015 ATP stimulates pannexin 1 internalization to endosomal compartments. The Biochemical journal, vol. 470, Issue 3, 319-30
Gender
Male
Languages
- English
- French